Des Moines — Only weeks after taking this key state in the presidential race by surprise, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker defended his front-runner status in Iowa by pledging to support a federal ethanol mandate, shifting his position on renewable fuels at a Republican roundup on farm issues. The GOP governor and a lineup of other major potential presidential contenders — including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — took the stage before hundreds of spectators and media at the Iowa Ag Summit at the state fairgrounds here. In the moderated discussion with ethanol entrepreneur Bruce Rastetter, Walker dropped his previous flat...

The Constitution's Second Amendment was created to bolster slavery and capture land from Native Americans, award winning actor Danny Glover told a group of students at a Texas A&M sponsored event on Thursday. Â“I donÂ’t know if you know the genesis of the right to bear arms,Â” he said. Â“The Second Amendment comes from the right to protect themselves from slave revolts, and from uprisings by Native Americans.Â” Â“A revolt from people who were stolen from their land or revolt from people whose land was stolen from, thatÂ’s what the genesis of the second amendment is,Â” he continued. Glover, best...

During the National Rifle Association’s meeting with Vice President Joe Biden and the White House gun violence task force, the vice president said that the administration did not have the time to prosecute existing gun laws. Jim Baker, the NRA representative present at the meeting, recalled the vice president’s words to The Daily Caller: “And to your point, Mr. Baker, regarding the lack of prosecutions on lying on Form 4473s, we simply don’t have the time or manpower to prosecute everybody who lies on a form, that checks a wrong box, that answers a question inaccurately.” Submitting false information on...

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter ripped the National Rifle Association for using President Barack Obama’s two daughters in an ad, declaring it “beyond the bounds of human decency” at a congressional hearing Wednesday. “As a father, I find it reprehensible, disgusting and beyond the bounds of human decency that the NRA would place an ad on television attacking President Obama’s daughters,” Nutter said to applause from the dais at a meeting of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, adding: “The NRA has struck a new low and that should be removed immediately.” The NRA released an ad Tuesday night calling the...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slammed the National Rifle Association’s latest ad in which they accuse President Barack Obama of hypocrisy for sending his children to a school where they are protected by armed guards. Christie called the ad “reprehensible” and said that the NRA should not be “dragging people’s children” into the gun control debate. RELATED: NRA: Those Who Think New Ad Is About First Daughters Are ‘Missing The Point Completely’ “I think any of us who are public figures, you see that kind of ad and you cringe,” Christie said on Thursday at a news conference in Trenton....

OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee, a day after an inaugural address that critics said lacked specifics, gave a much fuller picture Thursday of where he intends to take the state over the next four years. “It is not in the interest of health or safety or personal fulfillment to have to have ammunition capacity of 30 or 100 rounds,” Inslee said at this first news conference, referring to gun legislation to reduce violence. In addition to favoring a limit on ammunition magazines, Inslee reiterated his support of the federal assault-weapons ban he voted for as a member of Congress in...

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) joined MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts on Wednesday to applaud strict new gun laws passed by the New York State legislature and signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week. He said that he was glad that the legislature, and the federal government, were doing something in the wake of the murder of children and teachers in Newtown, Connecticut. He noted, however, that New York is more progressive than some places and some regions, particularly the American South, have “cultures that we have to overcome” in order to enact stricter national gun laws. “This is not Constitutional rights,...

Talk about your strained analogies . . . Tom Brokaw has analogized people unwilling support measures aimed at limiting gun violence to those during the 1960s who were unwilling to speak out againt the likes of Bull Connor.

A colleague made an interesting point this morning. If the NRA and its paranoid membership are so worried about the government creating a national gun registry, lest the government use that list to confiscate guns, they should stop worrying: The best list in the country already exists. It’s called the NRA membership. Sure, the NRA membership list doesn’t contain a gun registry of “all” firearms owners in America. But it does contain a list of many of the most paranoid, crazy, militant gun owners. The very people a “fascist” government would be most concerned about. Why does this matter? Well,...

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta joined the gun control debate on Thursday when he told troops at a military base in Italy that only soldiers needed armor-piercing bullets or assault weapons. Asked by a soldier what President Barack Obama would do to protect school children from gun violence without infringing Americans’ right to own guns, Panetta said action was needed after the attack on a Connecticut school in December in which a gunman killed 20 children and six adults. He told members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team at Vicenza (Italy) that there were areas where steps could be taken....

For liberals facts are never really important. “Truth” to liberals like Democrat New York City Congressman Jerrold Nadler is what he “feels” it is. Nadler has said: “Hunters don’t use large ammunition clips, and as far as self- defense, I mean who are you defending yourself against? If you’re defending yourself against a robber… two or three or four shots should be enough—period.” It’s a safe bet Nadler has never faced an assailant fueled by adrenalin drugs and alcohol. That doesn’t matter, of course, since no one will ever challenge Nadler on his supposed knowledge of the danger presented by...

We've already heard Constitutional scholar Matthew Modine opine on the Second Amendment this week. Now, it's film critic Roger Ebert's turn. And the Thumbs Up pioneer offers an even daffier version of U.S history than the "Vision Quest" star.